User blog:Pinkguy the b0ss/Super Mario 64 DS Review
What's up my Shreks, it's me DiamondMinerStudios and today I'm doing a review of Super Mario 64 DS. Let's begin. Not too much is known about its development history. However, the original E3 demo still exists, from when it was known as Super Mario 64x4, referring to the addition of three new characters - Luigi, Wario, and Yoshi. It was apparently a much different game back then (one glaring difference being a fully modeled castle, complete with a back area). Reception of the game back then was positive, with many calling it a good recreation of an N64 classic and technically impressive for a handheld console, with some even calling it the definitive version. However, years later, this remake is increasingly seen as nothing more than a gimmick that has aged awfully, is barely even playable, and doesn't come close to even matching the original (not that the original is particularly highly regarded by the public anymore). So, what do I think? Is Super Mario 64 DS as terrible as some people say, and truly nothing more than a gimmick whose novelty faded years ago? Or, is it an underrated gem that is the hidden definitive version of this classic game? Well, let's find out, because that's why you're here, right? Story The story is fairly different from the original, but that's not too surprising given the addition of the new characters. Instead of Mario showing up and realizing Peach is missing, Mario, Luigi, and Wario all go to the castle believing they are going to get cake. Referencing the N64 version, Yoshi is sitting on top of the castle sleeping. Some time later, Lakitu wakes him up and tells him that Mario, Luigi, and Wario have gone missing and he hasn't seen them for a long time. Yoshi then catches a rabbit holding a key to unlock the castle and soon figures out that Bowser is responsible for everything that's happened, and for stealing the castle's power stars, leaving everyone trapped within the walls. Yoshi then sets out on a quest to save his friends, reclaim the stolen power stars, and beat Bowser with their help. I think it's a decent story, and a pretty interesting update to the original's plot. It gets a pass from me. Gameplay You start out the game as Yoshi, but can eventually unlock Mario, Luigi and Wario by beating bosses within paintings of each respective character. Just like the original, it's a collectathon, and this time around, there's a few new collectibles. Added now are some stars that have you collect five Silver Stars, meaning this is the origin of the whole silver star thing mostly associated with Super Mario Galaxy. There's also rabbits and minigame keys, which I'll get in to later. I think the biggest criticism people have for this game would have to be its controls, some even going as far as to call them "cancer." Before I tell you what I think of them, let's get something out of the way. The DS has a d-pad and not an analog stick like the N64, so expecting a perfect one-to-one conversion of the original's controls is unrealistic. The designers had to work around the limitations of the hardware they were developing for. Ok, now to give you my opinion on this game's control scheme. To be honest, I don't think the game controls nearly as terrible as the public says it does, but I still don't think it controls quite as good as the original (well, duh, we're comparing a stick to a d-pad here). Throughout my playthrough, I had quite a few moments that may have went better if I had been using the original N64 controller. The controls can make the game kind of infuriating to play at times, but not nearly enough for me to call the game "unplayable." Despite the fact that I find that the controls work well given the hardware of the DS and are substantially better than some say they are, part of me still wishes they waited to remake this game for the 3DS (with the circle pad) so the controls could have been just the slightest bit tighter. Also, I think the run button makes running more awkward, and the button layout on the DS makes attacking somewhat weird as well, but not cumbersome. In the grand scheme of things, these are minor complaints. The camera controls, however, are a bit of a different story. I think they're a slight bit better than the original's for one reason - the L button. It provides the same camera centering feature from the 3D Zelda games, Super Mario Sunshine, and Banjo-Kazooie. However, the touchscreen camera controls can be a bit awkward to use. Despite this, though, the automatic angles are decent enough and since the L button provides an easy way to correct the camera angle, you don't need to use them much. Another common criticism of the game is its multiple characters, with it being unfavorably compared to Donkey Kong 64. While I do think that it can near that territory at times, it doesn't do so enough for me to see this point being all that meritorious. The closest it comes to DK64 territory is the rabbits, which need specific characters to collect, and the character-specific stars requiring their abilities (ex. Mario is the only character who can wall jump why, btw or use the Wing Cap, so only he can do stars requiring these abilities). However, one thing makes the second case virtually nonexistent - character caps. They let you switch to a certain character on the fly. Entering a level with Yoshi is even better, since you can choose which cap you start out with upon entering the level. The first case isn't that common either, since the rabbit sidequest is not required. Instead, it unlocks really cool minigames that make it worth catching the rabbits, such as Luigi's card games or Mario and Yoshi's puzzle-oriented ones. One of my greatest complaints with this version is the fact that stars besides 100 coin ones still kick you out of the level when you grab them. This still isn't a game ruiner, the same way it wasn't one in the original, but I still thinks it reeks of dated game design. On the other hand, though, this time the performance is consistently at 30 FPS, instead of dropping down when it gets busy onscreen. This wasn't a major problem in the original, rather a minor annoyance, but it is nice that the performance is more consistent in this version. Now to talk about the levels. They're still as well designed as the original game's, but a few have some changes that make some of the original's more enjoyable. I can name three of the top of my head - Tick Tock Clock being the biggest with the addition of a bottom section and the enlargment of a few platforms and walkways, Tiny-Huge Island with the walkway leading to Wiggler's Red Coins being made wider, and the icy walkway leading to the star "Wall Kicks Will Work" (now called "Mario's Super Wall Kick") in Cool Cool Mountain has also been widened. Unfortunately, Rainbow Ride is still frustrating at worst and boring at best since it still has linear level design over a bottomless pit and slow-moving carpets. However, I still consider the DS version's level design to be a slight improvement in some places. Before wrapping up, I'll quickly address the stars. There are 30 more than the N64 version's 120, making for 150 total stars. Most of them do boil down to collecting five silver stars or completing a switch challenge, but each one feels kind of different due to each being in wildly varying settings. I still consider the new stars to be passable at worst. Difficulty I'd say the difficulty in this game is designed well enough, due to increased platform sizes compensating for the slightly comprimised controls. This doesn't mean that certain sections weren't made harder due to the controls. For example, Tall Tall Mountain and Rainbow Ride are unneccesarily more difficult since the level design doesn't match the controls very well, although those levels didn't work the best in the original for the same reason (as great as its controls were), so I don't consider it a huge game-ruining flaw. The bosses are largely unchanged from the original, but there is a fair share of new faceoffs, such as the new bosses to unlock the other characters. They aren't that much harder, but it's still a nice addition to the game. I only mention this because the easy bosses in the original was one of my greatest complaints regarding its difficulty. Personally, I would reccommend just going for 80 stars and beating the game rather than fully completing it to 150, since some stars are made a bit harder due to the controls being how they are. However, as one of my favorite YouTube reviewers ExoParadigmGamer says, sometimes it's worth taking the bad with the good for the sake of enjoying something worth enjoying. I think this way in the case of SM64DS. While I prefer 80-star playthroughs, I don't think 100% completion is impossible and acknowledge that some may genuniely prefer to play the game that way. I also think 150 stars could be an enjoyable experience, but I'd have to do it from scratch, and honestly, I don't know if I have enough time to do so currently, but I'll probably look into it eventually. I actually have collected all 150 stars on my old file, but it took me several years so I'd have to start over in order to do a true critical analysis of a 150-star playthrough. Anyway, with all that padding out of the way, let's talk about the soundtrack. Soundtrack The soundtrack is pretty much the same, although some tracks (like Hazy Maze Cave) clearly sound like DS remixes. Most of it approximates the original amazingly, though, and sounds great by DS standards. There are only a few things I don't like about it. For one, I don't care for the new powerup jingles all that much, and especially think the Yoshi fire powerup and Mega Mushroom sound annoying. These new tracks aren't terrible, however, just not that great. A bigger complaint I have is the repetition. My biggest criticism of the N64 original's soundtrack was the reuse of the same few tracks across the 15 stages, which led to some of the soundtrack (especially the slide theme) to get repetitive after a while. This criticism still holds true for the DS version, since it reuses the same levels. This still led to the soundtrack getting repetitive at points. However, there are a few new jingles here and there for the new powerups and bosses. Nothing much, but something new nonetheless. Graphics Now, the N64 version doesn't have absolutely stunning visuals on its own, but its graphics are still pretty appealing despite showing their age and are thankfully pretty colorful. They got the job done. The DS version is a slightly different story. While the DS graphics are in improvement in some areas, including the character models and clarity, I think they're a downgrade in others, especially the colors in this case. They're quite washed out, ugly, and just not that appealing. The original's Bob-Omb Battlefield, for example, was lush, green, and full of color, while in the DS version, it looks like someone flew over the place and dropped pesticides out of a cropduster! I could go on, but that would honestly be nitpicking since graphics aren't everything, and honestly, the DS graphics are ok enough, just not all that appealing. Conclusion Overall, I like Super Mario 64 DS fine enough, but it's not that substantial of an improvement over the original. I don't think it fixed that many issues from the original, and while the controls are fine for what they are, they're not quite as good as the original's. That being said, this is a good recreation of Super Mario 64, and the portability factor can be a major selling point for some people who prefer handheld gaming over home console gaming (for whatever reason... lol just kidding). While not superior to the original, Super Mario 64 DS is a good remake that I would reccommend alongside the original rather than over it. You have a few options to play it - you could buy the original game card and play it on a DS, although I'd reccommend playing it on the 3DS because the circle pad provides a decent placebo for an analog stick. You could also get it on Wii U Virtual Console, although I don't know if VC is even still active, and I've heard there's input lag (even on a CRT TV), so that would make that a bad option. You could also play it in HD on an emulator, or even in 4K if you have a powerful enough PC. The textures and colors, as washed-out as they are, look fantastic in 4K and the graphics beat out the N64 by a long shot in that mode. To be honest, this is my second-least favorite 3D Mario game, but is still a bit better than New Super Mario Bros Wii (review for that coming very soon) in terms of soundtrack and presentation. Anyways, that's all. Thanks for reading, my Shreks. Category:Blog posts